Court rejects hospitals’ call for respite from cap on prices

[webfact]

Court rejects hospitals’ call for respite from cap on prices

By The Nation

 

 

PRIVATE HOSPITALS have failed to win respite from an order controlling their medical prices, after the Supreme Administrative Court turned down their request yesterday.

 

The court made the decision based on grounds that the order will not cause irreversible damages to the complainants even though an injunction has not been issued. 

 

The Private Hospital Association, together with 42 private hospitals, filed a petition with the court after the Central Committee on Product/Service Prices issued an order on January 22 to put a cap on the prices of medicines, medical services and medical supplies at private medical facilities. 

 

The committee’s move has upset many private hospitals. So far, the court has looked into evidence and found that the committee has not actually introduced any control measures, so there are no grounds to grant any respite. 

 

However, the Supreme Administrative Court has agreed to look into the private hospitals’ complaint that the order may be unconstitutional. 

 

The Central Committee on Product/Service Prices decided to put a control on medical prices after many consumers complained of excessively high medical fees. For instance, a patient was charged Bt30,000 for a simple stomach bug. Ongoing examinations show private hospitals sell medicines at big margins.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30371064

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-06-14

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[DaRoadrunner]

Money and medicine are a bad mix. Charging sick people extortionate prices ought to be illegal.

 

Looks like the Ministry of Commerce, Dept of Trade and the Central Committee on Product/Service Prices refused the brown envelope then. Well done! There is hope for this country yet.

[arithai12]

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

The committee’s move has upset many private hospitals. So far, the court has looked into evidence and found that the committee has not actually introduced any control measures, so there are no grounds to grant any respite.

What move, what upset, what respite? Nothing has changed.

[lujanit]

Is there a published list of what hospitals charge for individual medicine?

[George Bowman]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The Private Hospital Association, together with 42 private hospitals, filed a petition with the court after the Central Committee on Product/Service Prices issued an order on January 22 to put a cap on the prices of medicines, medical services and medical supplies at private medical facilities. 

I had an image of reasonable hospital costs, but come to found out, it was only my imagination...

 

[hotchilli]

Hospitals are a scam along with private medical insurance policies.

For those interested I just got a quote from AIA insurance 36,000 baht this year rising to 45,000 next year.

The policy only pays a percentage of surgery costs.... from 20% of the surgery cost to a maximum of 36,000 baht for one surgery in one policy year, you pay the balance of the total bill.... 

Room cost, doctors costs, anesthetists costs, etc etc etc are all capped.. you pay the extra if above!

Good luck trying to find a Thai insurance policy where you are actually fully covered... 

[pmarlowe]

This is a tough go on both the meds and the insurance front, especially the older you get. Still, costs are still better than the USA even at private hospitals (if you have the bank). One tip on meds (sorry if its obvious), many are available over the counter in generic or at discounted prices at reputable local pharmacies so it is always good to check before using the hospital pharmacy.

[rwill]

56 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Hospitals are a scam along with private medical insurance policies.

For those interested I just got a quote from AIA insurance 36,000 baht this year rising to 45,000 next year.

The policy only pays a percentage of surgery costs.... from 20% of the surgery cost to a maximum of 36,000 baht for one surgery in one policy year, you pay the balance of the total bill.... 

Room cost, doctors costs, anesthetists costs, etc etc etc are all capped.. you pay the extra if above!

Good luck trying to find a Thai insurance policy where you are actually fully covered... 

For ages 61-64 you can get Aetna Opal plan for a little over 26K per year, Thailand only and 750K per year coverage.  The only thing capped is the room rate.

 

[abrahamzvi]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Hospitals are a scam along with private medical insurance policies.

For those interested I just got a quote from AIA insurance 36,000 baht this year rising to 45,000 next year.

The policy only pays a percentage of surgery costs.... from 20% of the surgery cost to a maximum of 36,000 baht for one surgery in one policy year, you pay the balance of the total bill.... 

Room cost, doctors costs, anesthetists costs, etc etc etc are all capped.. you pay the extra if above!

Good luck trying to find a Thai insurance policy where you are actually fully covered... 

The cover and limits thereof depend entirely on the level of cover purchased. Obviously the higher the limits, the wider the extent of cover, the higher the premium is.

[Pedrogaz]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Hospitals are a scam along with private medical insurance policies.

For those interested I just got a quote from AIA insurance 36,000 baht this year rising to 45,000 next year.

The policy only pays a percentage of surgery costs.... from 20% of the surgery cost to a maximum of 36,000 baht for one surgery in one policy year, you pay the balance of the total bill.... 

Room cost, doctors costs, anesthetists costs, etc etc etc are all capped.. you pay the extra if above!

Good luck trying to find a Thai insurance policy where you are actually fully covered... 

I haven't looked into insurance yet. I am hoping I will be able to demonstrate that I have more than enough resources in Thailand to cover any medical expenses. Insurance companies are in business to make enormous profits, not to provide coverage for people's medical expenses. Their shareholders are the most important people to the insurance companies, and certainly not the not the sick patients who are a liability on their balance sheets and P&Ls. 

Given the numbers you cite...at 30,000 baht  for a diarrhoea treatment which costs less than 20 baht in any pharmacy, your insurance won't be paying for much of anything. 

[fisherd3]

34,000 thb for first (one) shot in a rabies course , Bangkok Hospital Rayong.

[inThailand]

Liquor companies tried to get them to rethink the no selling hours. Look how this law has had almost zero effect.

[mjnaus]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Good luck trying to find a Thai insurance policy where you are actually fully covered... 

Really not that hard to find. I am on an Aetna policy (formerly Bupa) and pay about 65.000b per year for myself and my (Thai) wife. Covers up to a max of 5,000,000b per disability; which in reality would cover about 95% of cases. Daily room/boarding of 12.000 per night which has allowed to use the best rooms available in Bangkok hospitals without any additional pay.

[GarryP]

"Ongoing examinations show private hospitals sell medicines at big margins." 
 

Not quite an accurate portrayal. To me a big margin in 25 percent or so. However, many private hospitals have ginormous mark ups. Could hardly call them margins either as there is nothing marginal about them.   

[justin case]

30 baht is for thai people only 

 

and those rich that do not want to waste half a day, probably have health insurance

 

this will bankrupt nations, but who cares, everybody gets paid on the way

[pedro01]

2 hours ago, fisherd3 said:

34,000 thb for first (one) shot in a rabies course , Bangkok Hospital Rayong.

Triple Ouch!

 

Samitivej Srinakarin was about 500 a shot for the course when I had it 3 years ago & that was probably way over market.

 

You get bitten by bigfoot or something?

[pedro01]

One of the things not mentioned here is the doctors fees.

 

Even at places like Bumrungrad, the cost to see a specialist is ludicrously low. Meds are inflated by Thai local market prices but still way below US prices.

 

I just think it's cheap on the examination end and expensive on the meds. Overall I've been quite happy. I've rarely seen a doctors visit with meds go over 4k.

 

My last one was an ortheo guy a few weeks back. Saw a doctor, had an exam, figured my plantaris tendon had snapped. Sent me on my way with counterpain (350 baht), an anti-inflammatory & something to stop the anti-inflammatory hurting my stomach.

 

Sum total - just under THB 3K - this was Bumrungrad. No appointment needed - walked in & got a doctor in 20 mins and was out 20 mins after that.

[gamini]

16 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

Money and medicine are a bad mix. Charging sick people extortionate prices ought to be illegal.

 

Looks like the Ministry of Commerce, Dept of Trade and the Central Committee on Product/Service Prices refused the brown envelope then. Well done! There is hope for this country yet.

The farang "brown envelope" brigade accusing everyone of corruption, pathetic!. 

[JAS21]

6 hours ago, mjnaus said:

Really not that hard to find. I am on an Aetna policy (formerly Bupa) and pay about 65.000b per year for myself and my (Thai) wife. Covers up to a max of 5,000,000b per disability; which in reality would cover about 95% of cases. Daily room/boarding of 12.000 per night which has allowed to use the best rooms available in Bangkok hospitals without any additional pay.

That sound very good ... how old are you both?  Four years ago when we were 59 and 69 our policy with PPP had risen to £8,800pa and was rising about 15%/year and we had been with them for many years ... that only covered in patient and things like MRI etc

[Airalee]

7 hours ago, GarryP said:

"Ongoing examinations show private hospitals sell medicines at big margins." 
 

Not quite an accurate portrayal. To me a big margin in 25 percent or so. However, many private hospitals have ginormous mark ups. Could hardly call them margins either as there is nothing marginal about them.   

Exactly.  

 

And you know you have a good doctor when he/she tells you to buy the meds (that you can) outside the hospital.

[mjnaus]

That sound very good ... how old are you both?  Four years ago when we were 59 and 69 our policy with PPP had risen to £8,800pa and was rising about 15%/year and we had been with them for many years ... that only covered in patient and things like MRI etc

I am 37; my wife’s 36.


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[ben2talk]

On 6/14/2019 at 10:24 AM, hotchilli said:

Hospitals are a scam along with private medical insurance policies.

For those interested I just got a quote from AIA insurance 36,000 baht this year rising to 45,000 next year.

The policy only pays a percentage of surgery costs.... from 20% of the surgery cost to a maximum of 36,000 baht for one surgery in one policy year, you pay the balance of the total bill....

Room cost, doctors costs, anesthetists costs, etc etc etc are all capped.. you pay the extra if above!

Good luck trying to find a Thai insurance policy where you are actually fully covered...

My introduction with this was car insurance - they'll cover repairs to your vehicle and offer you a few hundred a day towards the cost of a hire car or taxi to get around, not including Sundays... Thai law supports insurers not covering the insured liabilities, we lost out 14,000 baht when a truck reversed into our parked car.

 

Later with surgery - an appendix for my wife. A laparoscopy (not only our choice, but also the required choice according to her employer) cost us an extra 40,000 on top of the insurance because it is viewed as 'VIP' surgery in Thailand.

 

As a result, it's good policy here to take out a wide range of overlapping insurance policies so that you have more than one that can chip in to help with costs.

[Maestro]

This is the Announcement (in Thai) of the Central Committee on Prices of Goods and Services, Issue 52, BE 2562, Notification of Price Formulation Conditions regarding the sale of medicines, medical supplies, medical treatment fees, medical service and other services of the hospital:

Notification of medicine price formulation conditions 52 B.E. 2562.pdf

 

Source: https://www.dit.go.th/Content.aspx?m=12&c=24021